Alex Ballard left Indian Trail High School and Academy in 2022. Four years later, the Kenosha native is a fighter pilot with the Wisconsin Air National Guard.

Kenosha Unified School District featured Ballard on Nov. 11 in its "Beyond the Tassel" alumni profile series, describing him as a fighter pilot now living in Madison.

A separate profile published in May by the University of Tennessee's Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering said Ballard was graduating that month with a mechanical engineering degree. He had received a pilot slot with the 115th Fighter Wing to learn to fly the F-35 Lightning II and was set to attend officer school and go through pilot training.

Ballard grew up in Kenosha as a three-sport athlete, according to the UT profile. He was born into a military family. His father served in the Navy and works as a flight instructor who also flies for United Airlines.

Ballard didn't initially plan to follow his father into aviation. But his father saw his aptitude for engineering and encouraged him.

"I just had a mechanically inclined brain and thought I could fix things," Ballard told UT. "I had a willingness to learn complex systems and that is what really pushed my dad to have me consider this track."

His older sister was already attending UT as an aerospace engineering major, so Ballard applied and was accepted. He served as a practice player for the Lady Vols women's basketball team during his first few years on campus.

The turning point came in 2022. Ballard was sitting in a classroom when two F-35 stealth fighters roared overhead, practicing a flyover for a home football game at Neyland Stadium. Two UT alumni were at the controls. Ballard decided right then he wanted to join the Air National Guard and become a pilot.

"This is something that has been planned out for a few years now, so I've been mentally transitioning to the next step," Ballard told UT ahead of his graduation. "… But this is everything I ever wanted."

Ballard made a 12-year commitment to the Air National Guard, according to the UT profile. The 115th Fighter Wing, based at Truax Field in Madison, received its first F-35 Lightning II aircraft on April 25, 2023, becoming only the second Air National Guard unit to fly the advanced fighter.

In the KUSD profile, Ballard named Mr. Waynes as his favorite Indian Trail teacher. His advice to current KUSD students, as written in the district profile: accept the things you cannot change, change the things you can, and have the patience to know the difference.